There has been a lot of talk about Bitcoin Private and what it’s all about. It now has a predicted snapshot date of February 28th, which is coming up soon. This a little bit later than the original estimate of January. This being the case, now is the time to properly educate yourself about how Bitcoin Private (BTCP) affects you and your current holdings. The idea is simple in principle, but can take a little time to work through, especially as their whitepaper still outstanding.
What is Bitcoin Private and Who's Behind It?
BTCP is a little different from most hard forks, in that it’s actually a hard fork of both Zclassic, itself a fork of the privacy-based coin, Zcash, and the more established Bitcoin. The team is headed by Rhett Creighton, who is the man behind ZClassic (ZCL) and WhaleCoin. He also claims to have a dedicated team of 70 developers working on the project. ZClassic is essentially a lot like Zcash without the “founder’s tax” attached.
ZClassic and the Bitcoin Private Snapshot
Avoiding the founder’s tax earned ZClassic some support to begin with. It should be pointed out, however that its price hasn’t seen much movement since it came to be. That being said, it has seen some spikes since November of 2017. The second is in the process of evening out, with many buyers excited about Bitcoin Private. Since BTCP is a hark fork of Bitcoin and ZClassic, getting in on its snapshot means that anyone with Bitcoin or ZClassic in specific wallets or exchanges will receive the same amount of BTCP as they have BTC or ZCL. This process also allows those holders to maintain the BTC and ZCL they currently have.
The Perceived Benefits of Bitcoin Private
Many people have claimed that Bitcoin Private is simply trying to generate hype by piggybacking on Bitcoin’s name, but its many supporters do see a lot of potential in it. To begin with, it uses zk-snarks, which is a bonus to many. It also has no intermediaries between transactions between users, using only nodes, making it essentially P2P. Its last notable quality is that it has a slightly larger block size compared to Bitcoin. It isn’t quite a privacy-centric coin, but does offer more than Bitcoin. It’s essentially a mix of BTC and Zcash, which can have its appeal.
What Can We Expect From The Project So Far?
The lack of a whitepaper at this stage isn’t unheard of, but some are worried about the idea that we haven’t seen it yet. Furthermore, there hasn’t been much movement on GitHub for the most part, which is worrying some. It will be interesting to read through their whitepaper when it comes out, to see what’s what. The delay in the launch of BTCP has caused some concern as well, with the price of ZCL dropping somewhat since the last spike of excitement. This suggests that at least some of BTCP’s early supporters are beginning to lose faith. It’s hard to make a clear judgement, however, as its hard to back up these predictions by looking at Bitcoin.
The Future of Bitcoin Private
The devs do seem committed, which is always a good sign. It similarly looks like a large number of ZClassic’s supporters are getting ready to adopt BTCP. This could mean that it’s probably here to stay, regardless of how it performs. It’s definitely worth paying attention to BTCP before the hard fork snapshot on February 28th, as well as look into it further it if you think the project’s right for you. It bears repeating that holdings do have to be in the right platforms of wallets in order to receive your BTCP. Additionally, you should always properly vet any platform ahead of time.
